Nonfiction Reading Strategies: Strategy 3 – Analyzing Text Structure

Students, for the most part, have no idea about text organization.  One of the biggest complaints, I hear from older students, is some version of their inability to read informational texts.  This has also been linked to the “4th grade decline”.  Students NEED to understand how informational texts are organized.  Being able to use text structure is closely related to the fourth strategy, which is creating mental images. This time I am focusing on text structure itself.
Why should students be able to analyze text structure?
Analyzing text structure is important so that as students read they recognize points the author is making as they are reading.  In other words, students should not be rushing through the reading to get done.  They should be taking the time to notice the structure and begin to make a map (either in their head or on paper) and fill in the points the author is trying to communicate.
What tools do you have to help excavate the structure?
Everyone is given a tool kit when they begin reading an informational text. There are tools that are within the body of the text and tools that are outside of the section of the text the reader is reading.  All of these tools are not always present, but like any good archeologist, students should be taught to look for and use the tools available to uncover the structure and ultimately the information in the text they are reading.

• Inside the text:
  • subheadings
  • labels
  • captions
  • tables
  • graphs
  • charts
  • maps
  • timelines
  • figures

So many students NEVER look at any of the figures in a text.  I believe this is a natural result of our focus on fiction texts early in reading instruction.  We teach kids that there is less and less information in the pictures and more and more in the words.  That does not transpose to informational texts.  In fact, I would say that much of the information that students need to understand in informational texts is embedded in different types of figures: maps, timelines, graphs, tables, diagrams, and photographs.  If you doubt the importance of using figures, take some standardized tests (including the ACT and SAT).  It becomes very important.

• Outside the text:
  • indexes
  • tables of contents
  • glossaries

It goes without saying that students should be warned against the overuse of the glossary.  Defining words without context can be problematic rather than helpful. Vocabulary is important in understanding texts, but the index is an underused resource by most students.  In my opinion, the glossary should only be used in combination with other tools.
What are the types of informational texts that students are most exposed to?
According to research by Calfee & Patrick in 1995, the most common types of texts are in two groups: texts that are descriptive and texts that are sequential in nature.  There are sub-groups within these categories.

• Descriptive
  • List: a list of terms in no specific order that are usually related in a single way. ex. a grocery list.
  • Web: more complex than a list.  In the case of a web there are categories.
  • Matrix: most complex. a matrix describes more than one thing.  it compares and contrasts two or more topics.
• Sequential
  • String: step by step description of events. ex. a recipe
  • Cause-Effect: two or more events interact with one another.  Common in history, science, and health publications.
  • Problem-Solution: writer states a problem or poses a question followed by a solution or answer in the text.

I will give some visual clues to the text types next week when I write about creating mental images.
I am using a great article from The Reading Teacher as my primary reference for this series. Check it out.
Dymock, S. a. (2010). “High 5!” Strategies to Enhance Comprehension of Expository Texts. The Reading Teacher , 166-178.
I have already written posts on the first two strategies:
Activating Background Knowledge
Questions